The New Divide
by This Is Da Vinci Speaking
Summary: Sequel to "Own Personal Enterprise". Instances of betrayal and a huge act of personal terrorism against Spock creates some stronger relationships among the crew, yet threatens others.
1. Enough Already

**This story will have smatterings of slashy _talk_ and _thought_, but you'll never actually _see_ any slash. Thought you ought to know.**

* * *

_**One:  
**_**Enough Already**

"Doctor, I do not wish to belittle you, however—"

"Oh, no you don't. Don't you 'however' me, you giant elf."

Spock's eyebrow twitched at this comment, yet his attention was solely on the small hologram sitting on the end table beside the bed. In the bed lay a very irritated Lieutenant Phiora. Her eyes were on Dr. McCoy and her face told him she might start strangling him for the hell of it. Spock made a small sound like he was clearing his throat. "Then would you be so kind as to explain what it is we are looking at?"

Bones McCoy shifted slightly, his eyes also on the hologram. It was actually a holographic sonogram that appeared to be on a slowly rotating turntable. The doctor blinked once.

"You're lookin' at some lovely genes there, Spock."

"And Doctor, what seems to be different about this particular sonogram? What, precisely, differentiates this one from the one you showed us twenty-nine-point-six days ago?"

Bones scowled and turned to the half-Vulcan as Phiora watched, annoyed, from the sidelines. "Now just wait a goddamn minute—" He stopped when he saw Spock's face calling his bluff. He sighed. "There's another one of them little buggers."

Spock allowed both eyebrows to lift. "Which would indicate...?"

"You're having twins, Phiora, but I'm sure you figured that out already. I don't know why the other fetus didn't show up on the other sonograms...and I guess it should've been suspected what with your stomach being larger than it would be with just one fetus."

After another bite-sized spat between McCoy and Spock and a hypospray of pre-natal nutrients, Phiora was sent on her way, the First Officer at her heels. They headed towards a turbolift, and once inside, Spock turned to her.

"Are you certain you feel up to working?"

Phiora rolled her eyes. "Spock, I'm only a few months along. Besides, with Lieutenant Uhura on Earth for that family emergency, I've been assigned communications officer." She smiled brightly and smoothed her blue uniform dress over her recognizably rounder stomach.

Spock gave her an amused sideways glance, his hands behind his back. "As unfortunate as Nyota's family emergency is, I am certainly pleased that you acquired the position you have been vying for." He turned his head to her. "However temporary that may be."

"That was mean," Phiora pouted, involuntarily leaning into the hand that suddenly appeared at the small of her back. "For that I'm not giving you a backrub tonight."

The smirk on Spock's face was only common to her, and her heart warmed at that thought. "My dear Phiora, you seem to forget that I do not need sensual gratification every night."

"Oh yeah?" she countered. She slid her hands around to the small of his back, a little ways below this ribcage, and started to rub small circles with her fingertips. She grinned when his eyes fell shut and he leaned forward a little, emitting a very un-Spock-like sound from deep in his chest. "I have my doubts because you seem to like this one a lot."

"Lower," he whispered uncharacteristically, running his hands from her shoulders to her neck.

Instead of complying, Phiora removed her hands and watched Spock open his eyes and stare at her as if she just declared war on herself. She watched him keenly and held his face as he narrowed his eyes ever-so-slightly.

"You seem to have forgotten the hypnotic effects that particular area of my body has on me."

"Oh, no, I definitely have not," Phiora laughed as the turbolift doors opened to the bridge. She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him briefly before exiting, leaving Spock to flush a lovely shade of green. They both went to their respective stations.

"Hey, now," Captain Kirk joked from his place between the science and communications stations. "I saw that little peck. If you're going to be obscene about your relationship I'm going to have to ask one of you to leave."

Spock raised an eyebrow as he took his seat. "I assure you, Captain, the lieutenant merely experienced a lapse of judgment and it will not happen again."

Phiora smiled. She knew that human kisses were embarrassing for Spock when given in public, but she also knew that he didn't hate them. She figured it was his human half. Full-blooded Vulcans might be mortified by such a public display of affection, but Spock only found it uncomfortable.

As Jim chuckled and walked to his chair, Phiora placed her headset in her ear and frowned. She pressed a few controls and turned in her seat to face Spock, still frowning. He caught this and looked at her questioningly.

"Mr. Spock," she said, adopting the professional mannerisms as they'd both agreed to while on duty. "Someone is trying to call you."

He grabbed a headset and placed it in his ear. "Who?"

After a few more seconds of switch-flipping and listening, Phiora's frown turned into a warm smile and she addressed the caller. "Just a moment, Qlintik, I'll transfer you to his line."

At the sound of the Beylorian's name, Spock straightened his spine curiously, placing a hand to this headset as Phiora switched the call over. "This is Spock." He paused, his eyes on the console in front of him. "I am also pleased to hear from you, Qlintik. Unfortunately I am unable to converse casually with you at this time for the fact that I am currently on duty." He lifted his head, still listening. Then he tilted it to one side, still unaware of Phiora's conspiratorial grin. "Certainly. I will appreciate the opportunity." His eyes shifted as if something personally impressive was said, and he lifted an eyebrow. "Peace and long life." He reached over and cut off the call.

"I still remember," Phiora said nonchalantly, turning back to her console, "when he first made a social call to you."

"It was indeed a rather strange call."

"You wouldn't quit asking him why he was calling you."

"It did not occur to me at the time that he wanted to be social."

"No, that doesn't happen often, does it?" Phiora teased, throwing him another smile before really getting back to work.

Spock fought the human urge to roll his eyes.

* * *

Later after shift ended, Jim and Bones sat in Jim's quarters, enjoying some Saurian brandy and a bottle of Onofrian valley wine Phiora had given the doctor to thank him for his help and friendship since she learned she was pregnant. Jim was the one drinking the brandy since he was banned from the wine under Phiora's terms.

"Please, _please_," she'd light-heartedly begged McCoy, "make sure Jim has none of this. Not only is he allergic, but he will go bat-shit crazy if he drinks it. One sip and he starts addressing inanimate objects as 'President Lincoln' and then his face literally puffs up like a balloon." She then grinned. "But drink it in front of him. He'll hate it because he loves this stuff regardless."

Certainly the doctor need not have been told twice.

"I like her," Bones told his younger friend as they both sat on either side of the captain's desk, their respective glasses in hand.

Jim frowned, visibly suppressing a hiccup/burp. "Who?"

"Phiora. She's a nice kid. Dunno what she sees in Spock or why she'd want to even consider carrying that man's children for any length of time, however." He swilled his glass and stared at it like it was broadcasting a medical lecture. "Her psychological tests had turned out with no sign of anything that would...um...you know...indicate why she'd choose...him."

Jim downed his brandy and poured himself another glass. "Oh, come on."

Bones shook his head. "He's been acting less and less like a Vulcan each...week, I guess. It's not that noticeably. I mean noticeable."

It was evident at that point that both men were at that often-visited but not entirely unwelcome comfortably buzzed area. Kirk wanted to change the subject since he knew why his older friend was talking about what he was talking about.

"Gimme some of that wine?" he asked. He wondered what the hell was wrong with Bones when he absently started reaching the bottle out to him, but then the hand snapped back and two incredulous and hilariously angry eyes narrowed at him.

"Are you suicidal?" Bones asked harshly. "Jesus, man, I almost gave it to you, too." As the captain amusedly gulped down his entire glass of brandy and poured another one, the doctor cleared his throat automatically, examining the bottle. "Part of me wishes Spock were allergic to this stuff too. I know...I know he likes it because Phiora told me he'll drink it sometimes at...dinner." He let out a deep, hollow hiccup, but it was a loner.

Jim squinted at the man sitting across the desk and rubbed his face. "Bones...shut up about Spock already, 'kay? I know you have a...a crush on him, but come on. Let...let it go. It's depressing."

The CMO set the bottle back down with so much force he almost shattered it. "I don't have a fucking crush on that...that...green-eared, pointy-blooded...bastard-goblin! I'd rather pump myself full of...dangerous chemicals than...."

"...admit it?" Jim asked, grinning toothily, resting his chin on his hand and leaning forward in his seat.

"No," Bones said quietly and with finality, draining the last of the wine in his glass. The younger man sighed, understanding through the haze that it was pointless.

And just a tad hypocritical.

He would have mentally embellished on that thought had he not seen the shudder McCoy emitted suddenly. The captain's time with Phiora and Spock—mostly Spock—had taught him how to read and interpret people to some extent. It wasn't something he could do correctly yet, but he knew enough to know that shudder wasn't for the reason he initially thought it was for.

Briefly proud and surprised that he was able to read his mostly misleading friend, especially through his steadily increasing inebriation, Jim frowned.

"You look spooked."

Bones leaned forward, forgetting about the drinks for the moment. "I was just thinkin' about that creepy race we ran into a few months back. Y'know...the AK47."

Jim recalled the voice of the enigmatic race's...commander, he supposed, and suddenly didn't blame Bones for shuddering. The doctor hadn't heard the voice, but a few of Jim's nightmares since then contained that reverberating voice in appearances that ranged from one word to being the entire subject of the nightmare. He'd never heard a voice that low in his life. It was so low it made Admiral Der'on's booming voice sound like a child's.

"Why?" Jim asked softly, wondering if he was going to be tricked into listening to another Spock-centric rant.

"Gee, I'm not sure, maybe it's a little strange to me that it's been three months and they haven't dropped by to say 'hello, we want your souls now'." He dropped his voice to a whisper. "I think that's what they're gonna do, Jim. They're gonna come back."

Jim took a moment to wade through McCoy's Southern accent, which was thicker now that he was almost drunk. "You're being...paranoid...again," he said at length. "You were like this with...with Der'on and his cool...weapon. But you turned out to be wrong, didn't you?"

"But Jim—!"

"Didn't you?"

There was a pause. Bones pursed his lips. "Dammit, yes."

With a tip of the head and a raise of the glass, Jim downed his drink, only to realize two minutes later that it had been empty.


	2. The Missing Ten Minutes

_**Two:  
**_**The Missing Ten Minutes**

Phiora's eyes snapped open and automatically locked on Spock's wide brown ones, which were showcasing the classic "cat that swallowed the canary" expression. After a second of remembering where she was and why she was there, Phiora slowly blinked.

"What?" she asked, frowning.

Spock looked down at his hand, which was on her stomach. "The fetuses were moving rather violently. I admit...I suspect it is my fault."

"Spock, they're babies," Phiora said sleepily, placing her hand over his. She then noticed how his hand was placed on her stomach, and she sat up to look at it. "Were you...." She looked at his face. "Were you mind-melding with the babies?"

Spock blinked and looked away quickly. "I was attempting. I fear it was a mistake, because their minds don't seem to be fully formed as of yet."

Phiora smiled. "That is...." She wasn't sure what it was, but she found it made her even fonder of the father of her unborn children. She brushed her fingers through his hair and across one elegantly upswept eyebrow. "That's something."

* * *

When it was discovered that Phiora was pregnant, Kirk gave her and Spock permission to switch quarters with one of their neighbors and knock down the adjoining wall, giving them more space. Phiora agreed to be the one to switch quarters, and she playfully tried to kick Jim out of his quarters since he was one of Spock's neighbors.

Spock, of course, had said he was somewhat concerned that Starfleet would have a problem with "vandalizing" one of their starships, but Jim assured him it would be fine and he and Phiora went at the wall with phasers, slicing it into strips and then going across so the pieces would be small. Jim, in his enthusiasm, had accidentally hit one of Spock's figurines with the phaser. Luckily all it did was chip it slightly and the relic wasn't a culturally significant one, but for the rest of the time the rooms were being integrated Spock's eyes didn't fall once on the captain without being narrowed.

A few days of Spock and Phiora sharing the same quarters produced some interesting results, most of them harrowing for Kirk. The first night was actually the worst. Jim had been in bed reading, which he was excited about getting to do since there hadn't been a night where he was awake enough to read in quite a while. He'd been so immersed in the book that at first he ignored the noises coming from the next room. But then he turned the page, his concentration briefly broken, and it dawned on him what he was hearing.

It would've been a comical sight for anyone watching Jim when he figured it out; he stopped in the middle of turning the page and stared at the wall directly ahead of him, which was not where the sounds were seeping through. He then turned his head very slightly to the wall two feet to his left, which was the offending wall, and a second later he wished he hadn't stopped reading. The most traumatizing sound of the night occurred just then.

Jim had heard a lot of next-door fraternization when he was growing up, so it wasn't anything new to him. Hell, he'd even heard one of Phiora's next-door fraternizations when she was dating someone from Onofrio as a teenager. But as he stared at that wall, he concluded that he never, ever, _ever_ wanted to hear Phiora say Spock's name in _any_ tone of voice _ever_ again. Ever.

Needless to say, Jim woke up the next morning swathed in blankets on his bathroom floor.

Since then, there hadn't been any noises at night, which both relieved and worried Jim. So a little less than three months later at breakfast while Spock was with Bones at the food processors, Jim asked Phiora why that was.

Phiora swallowed a grape whole. After letting the initial shock of that pass, she cleared her throat and let her hands rest on her stomach. "What?"

"I said why have you and Spock stopped gettin' it on?"

All the poor lieutenant could do was stare at her captain weirdly. She shook her head slowly, unsure whether or not she should even acknowledge the question. "Um...we...haven't...."

Jim raised his eyebrows, still stuffing his face with waffles like the current conversation wasn't taking place. "Really? I haven't heard anything since that one night. Well, I mean, I've heard you guys arguing over the temperature, but nothing...you know."

"That's because it hasn't been in our quarters," Phiora blurted without thinking.

Both she and Jim froze and Jim regarded her carefully, his fork still in his mouth. He narrowed his eyes, debating whether the idea of finishing the mouthful of waffle was an intelligent one. He decided it was, and he chewed and swallowed, then set his fork down and folded his hands on the table calmly.

"I'm gonna ask you a couple of questions now. If the answer is no to any of them, I will be a very cranky captain. I might throw a few temper tantrums. Understand?"

Phiora nodded stiffly.

"Alright. Are my own quarters safe?"

"Yes."

"Are all of the Jefferies tubes safe?"

"Yes."

"Is my _chair_ safe?"

Phiora leaned back a little at the dangerous flash she saw cross his eyes. "Yes," she said honestly. "Really...you don't have to worry about anything. Anywhere you frequent is safe."

Jim sighed and pushed his tray away. "Really, that doesn't make a lot of sense. I frequent pretty much every part of the ship except for—" His neck stiffened and he clapped a hand over his mouth, not certain if he should laugh or cry. He would have said something had Bones and Spock not returned at that moment.

"What's goin' on?" Bones asked as he took his seat beside Jim. He frowned when the captain wouldn't look at his face. "What's wrong? You look sick."

Jim removed his hand from his mouth and shook his head sharply. "I'm fine. I don't...I'm good."

"You sure? You could stop by sickbay real quick and—"

"NO. No. I'm fine, Bones. Honestly."

Spock discreetly frowned over at Phiora, who bit her lip and shrugged as if to say "I'm sorry?"

_Certainly no good can come from his knowledge_, Spock thought to her._ Now he will avoid medical treatment more than usual, which is illogical due to the fact that we made a point those nights of sterilizing the bed three times._

Phiora gave him an innocent look and continued eating.

* * *

Around 1255 hours that day, Lieutenant Phiora frowned at her station. She was working on some translations on the computer terminal when a low-pitched static followed by a sharp beep entered her ear via her headset. She blinked and switched some controls, trying to play back the noise and clear it up so she could hear it better. The failed to do so and shrugged it off as audio debris due to years and years and years of communication across the galaxy.

Phiora returned to the translations, and at 1302, she turned to Spock and told him she had to find some written translations for reference. After the turbolift closed and she was carried away, Jim came up to Spock.

"Where's she going?"

Spock turned his chair and he looked up at Kirk. "She informed me that she needed to retrieve written translations from our quarters, Captain. She should return shortly."

Jim nodded and went back to his chair.

At 1314 Spock looked up to see Phiora not sitting at her station or anywhere else on the bridge. He looked over to Jim, who was watching him with an expression mirroring the confusion he felt but only showed with a raised eyebrow.

At 1324 Jim huddled beside Spock, who took Phiora's headset and gave it to Jim, placing his own in his ear. "Computer," Spock said quietly, "This is Lieutenant Commander Spock. Bridge headset. Locate Lieutenant Phiora."

In their ears Jim and Spock heard, "Working..." and outside the headsets they heard the computers working. A second or two passed and then they heard, "Lieutenant Phiora cannot be located."

As quickly yet non-panicky as they could, Spock headed into the turbolift, followed by Jim, who gave the bridge to Sulu.

"I will search our quarters," Spock said once the lift started moving.

"Good; I'll check with Bones. Maybe she forgot her daily...um, vitamin stuff."

"She did not forget."

Jim really wished Spock hadn't said that, but he also knew Spock wished Jim hadn't thought of it.

The doors opened and Spock exited, leaving Jim to hit the button for the sickbay level. It seemed like twenty minutes before they opened again, and the captain burst into McCoy's territory, doing his best not to appear as frantic as he felt. He glanced at every bed and did not like what he found—or more to the point, who he didn't find.

Ten minutes later Spock arrived, and Bones emerged from his office.

"What're you two doin' here?" Bones asked, frowning.

Spock was the calmer one. He should be the one to say it, Jim thought, running both hands through his hair and exhaling sharply.

"Doctor," the half-Vulcan said quietly. "Lieutenant Phiora has disappeared."

After a silent moment, Bones chuckled. "Very funny, guys. Now go away before I stick you with an old-fashioned syringe, will you?"

Jim ran his hands down his face and shook his head. "Bones, you know Spock doesn't joke. You of all people know that."

Very slowly, Bones stopped smiling.


	3. Regretful Things

**I forgot to mention that I know the babies**'** behavior is a little strange for their gestation age, but you have to remember these kids are only a quarter human.

* * *

**

_**Three:  
**_**Regretful Things**

"Disappeared," Bones repeated quietly. "How the hell do you mean she disappeared?"

"The captain and I inquired the ship's computer of Phiora's location, and it simply informed us that she could not be located." Spock was irritatingly calm. Jim understood why, but still, there was a crewmember missing, not just a crewmember, one of his best friends and the mother of another one of his best friend's unborn children....

Spock turned to the captain and for a moment he was afraid his thoughts had somehow been heard, but the words out the First Officer's mouth were aimed to Bones. "I have also searched the quarters I share with the lieutenant."

Doctor McCoy let out a sharp, worried breath. "How could she have disappeared?"

He didn't get an answer, because right then the wall com whistled. Jim's legs suddenly felt numb as he staggered his way over to it and pressed the button. "Kirk here."

"Bridge to Keptin."

The urgency in Chekov's voice irritated Jim even more, and he wasn't sure why. Perhaps, he thought, it was because it meant something was more than likely going to take his attention away from the matter at hand—the Amazing Disappearing Lieutenant. A bolt of fear shot through him at the idea of having to abandon her for something else. He felt two pairs of eyes on him as he closed his own, leaning against the wall beside the com.

"Yeah, Chekov, what is it?"

"V-ve hev been hailed, sir."

Oh, shit. Jim's eyes peeled themselves open and he made eye-contact with Bones, who also apparently recognized the frightened stutter the eighteen-year-old let slip through. The kid had no idea what was happening between the trio in sickbay, and being hailed normally didn't freak people out unless the hailer was exceptionally freaky. Which meant one thing. One thing. Jim Kirk's heart leapt into his throat as things started to make sense.

"Patch it through, Ensign."

McCoy's eyes were calling him extremely nasty things, and Spock's posture hardened, his hands flinging behind his back. They were expecting the same thing.

"Kirk."

Jim didn't know what it was about that voice that made him want to wet himself and hide under a desk—all very un-captain-like actions—but he suddenly wished Bones was holding him up. A wave of almost undetectable nausea rolled through Kirk's stomach and throat. "Hey, buddy," he said, thankfully not betraying any exaggerated emotion with his voice. "I was starting to think you'd forgotten all about us here on the _Enterprise_."

"We have. The lieutenant."

Yeah. Kirk was actually not surprised by this. Nonetheless, his hands curled into fists and he willed the blinding rage and worry away. He couldn't afford to think that Phiora—his little sister at heart—was in any sort of danger. In the grips of the AK47, she clearly was in _some_ sort of danger...but no. Spock had been on the AK47 vessel for several hours and returned unharmed in any way, but then again he wasn't kidnapped.

"Keep it together, Jim," Bones hissed sharply at him. Strangely enough that was enough to help the captain find his voice again.

"Okay," Jim said into the com. "What do you want for her safe return?"

"There is nothing. You can give us. We. Are keeping her."

The line went dead. Jim felt his pulse plunge to a near dangerous level as Chekov's voice returned.

"Keptin...ve hev...lost the connekshun."

Jim didn't answer. Instead he pressed the button turning the com off. He could practically see Chekov's distressed look as he realized he'd been hung up on.

There was a nagging feeling in the back of Kirk's head, and with a little concentration he realized it was a voice telling him to claw his way through the bulkhead and then the next one and then the next one. The action would have proven no point or held any purpose whatsoever, but it probably would have felt pretty damn good right about now. He even started lightly scratching at it absently, but was startled to a halt when Bones unexpectedly spoke.

"Goddammit, Jim, I told you!"

_Oh god no, not now Bones, please_..._Spock_'_s right there and you know what_'_ll happen if you say it_..._._

"I told you I had a nasty feeling about those bastards, didn't I?! I told you I'd gotten the feeling that they were gonna come back! Why didn't you listen to me, you...you...!"

"Perhaps he felt it unwise to base his actions solely on a feeling you experienced, Doctor."

Jim actually winced. The sound of Spock's voice wasn't blatantly different, yet both Jim and Bones knew..._knew_ that the half-Vulcan was steadily losing emotional control. His words were sharp, like his lungs threatened to seize up, and it gave the captain the impression of a person moments away from a good sob. Yet the face remained neutral. How the _hell_ did he manage that?

"Spock," Jim said, his own voice unexpectedly gravelly. He cleared his throat. "Spock, we'll get her back. You know we will."

The ironically human eyes fell upon the captain's naturally human ones. "I was unaware I possessed doubts, Captain."

The sentence was covered in Spock's recently patented dry sarcasm, but his eyes were locked on Jim's for a reason, and a quick search told him that if he removed the sarcasm and translated the Spock-Speak, what he _really_ said was "This is a fucking nightmare."

Suddenly Jim acted like that was what he said. He briefly wondered if Bones caught on too as he turned to the Vulcan, his face unreadable.

"You never cease to amaze me." Christ, apparently not. "Do you even understand the weight of what's going on here?"

Jim raised a hand. "Bones...leave it. I think he does. Right now we need to figure out a way to—" He was abruptly silenced as Spock turned on his heel and strode out of sickbay so fast neither of the remaining men were sure he'd even left at first.

Jim blinked and turned to Bones. "Yeah," he said forcefully at the slightly uncomfortable yet still angry expression on the CMO's face. "I'm pretty sure he gets it."

* * *

They found Spock on the bridge, standing a few feet away from Sulu's post and keeping his tightly-gripped hands behind his back. He apparently sensed his comrades' arrival because his shoulders stiffened. He was so tense he was probably creating bruises in his muscles just by standing there.

"Mr. Sulu, have you located the AK47 vessel?"

"Aye, sir."

"On screen."

Jim folded his arms tightly across his chest as the all-too-familiar mirrored brass ship took up roughly sixty percent of the screen. Peripherally he saw Bones gaze at it cautiously. He'd never seen the ominous thing before, and he was getting the impression his first thought was the same as Jim's first thought about it; _how many ashes did it take to fill that thing_?

One of Spock's knuckles cracked as his grip on his own hands tightened. "It appears to be immobile." He turned to Chekov, who was at the communications station. "Make contact with the vessel at once."

Bones took a breath to make a comment about the roles of captain and First Officer suddenly being swapped, but Jim quickly placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and shook his head tightly. "It's fine," Jim whispered. "I get what he's doing. I probably would be doing the same thing now."

"Well, I'm glad you two are so in tune with each other," the CMO huffed indignantly, folding his own arms. Jim couldn't help but smirk a little. That couldn't possibly have been jealousy, right?

"Enemy vessel, this is Lieutenant Commander Spock of the United Starship _Enterprise_," Spock said firmly to the vision of the ship on the viewing screen. "I have been instructed to inquire your reasons for abducting our crewmember and to demand an immediate response."

_Good_, Jim thought. _Make the AK47 think Phiora_'_s just another crewmember so they_'_ll believe she has no value and possibly return her. I like that plan._

There was a pause, then a response. "I. Am Br'Zrk. I command this vessel."

Bones and Jim exchanged a worried glance. Br'Zrk sounded exactly like 'berserk' and neither of them were sure putting a name to the voice—especially that name in particular—was such a good thing after all.

"I believe. We have met. Spock."

"Indeed. I have been instructed—"

"You have not. We know. We sense. Your connection. To the lieutenant. Our reason for taking her. Was nonexistent. However. You value her. This makes our possession of her. Much greater."

Things were going downhill real fast, and Jim flailed to grasp the reigns again. "Why would you just take her after Spock helped you with your ship? It doesn't make sense that you would let him go, then come back months later and take her!"

Then Bones made a possibly fatal mistake.

"Damn you, the girl's with child!"

Jim felt the air promptly leave his lungs as Spock whirled around, his eyes glittering dangerously at McCoy. The captain felt as if he'd been punched in the stomach, and looking at Spock made him think the beating he'd received from the Vulcan all that time ago was going to seem like a tickle-fest compared to what Bones was probably going to endure.

"Is this so?" Br'Zrk's voice took on a horrifyingly curious tone. "This makes our decision. Much wiser."

Chekov suddenly shot out of his seat and started hitting controls everywhere. "Ve lost heem, Keptin!" he nearly shrieked. After a few more seconds, he collapsed in his seat, muttering to himself in shaky Russian.

Bones knew his mistake. He kept his eyes tightly shut and his head down. Jim concluded it was the first and hopefully the last time he'd seen his older friend seem so heavily ashamed of his own existence.


	4. Introduction to the Monster

**Sorry for the colossal delay. For some reason this chapter did **_**not**_** want to be written at **_**all**_**, which is highly apparent in the length of it. However, I AM NOT GIVING UP.

* * *

**

_**Four  
**_**Introduction to the Monster**

Sulu's voice broke through the seemingly endless silence as captain and First Officer stared at Chief Medical Officer in shock and a somewhat betrayed amazement.

"The enemy vessel's gone into warp, sir," the young pilot told Jim nervously. The second the sound waves passed through Kirk's eardrums, he sprung into action.

"Match the warp factor and follow them," he demanded, then grabbed Bones's arm and dragged him into the turbolift, Spock in tow. "Lieutenant Sulu, you have the bridge."

"Aye, sir."

When the turbolift doors shut and Engineering was announced as their destination, Jim let go of his CMO's arm and watched him for a brief moment. "What the hell, Bones?"

The doctor winced. "I know...I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. It was a mistake, Jim!"

"I know it was a mistake. We all make mistakes...but this one has possibly put Phiora's life in danger. I can't—"

"Captain," Spock interrupted, having stood in silent observation against the farther curve of the turbolift wall, "may I point out that Doctor McCoy's thoughtless exclamation was, in fact, just that? He is human, therefore possesses human emotions and the inability to control himself enough to ponder his words before saying them. He was only reacting in a way he saw fit, however erroneous and mindless that might have been." Bones opened his mouth to argue, but Spock talked over him. "Could you consciously punish someone for their instincts?"

Jim kept his eyes on his First Officer, processing his words.

"Not but fifteen seconds ago," Spock continued, "you said 'we all make mistakes.' Is that not what the doctor has done? He was not deliberately malicious in his actions."

Neither of the other two men was entirely sure that argument was as helpful as the half-Vulcan seemed to intend it to be, but throughout the rest of the ride in the lift, Jim silently contemplated while watching Bones. He thought it interesting that Spock wasn't as upset about this as he probably should have been. He'd seen the very present—albeit distilled—rage in the science officer's eyes when Bones made his mistake. So why was he, instead of wailing on him as expected, sticking up for him?

As the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened, Jim realized that Spock was more than likely _extremely_ upset...but true to form, wasn't showing it.

"Is your Head Nurse on duty?" the captain asked the CMO.

"Well, yes, but—"

"Good. You're coming with us," Jim muttered, grabbing his older friend's arm and pulling him out of the turbolift. Spock followed close behind.

They needed to get Phiora out of that vessel, and there were only so many ways of going about doing that.

* * *

For some reason Phiora kept replaying the moment she was taken from the _Enterprise_ over and over in her head as she stood within a large triangular prism that was attached like a tube to the ceiling. She couldn't help but notice the bottom of the prism-tube wasn't attached to the floor, but was suspended about five feet off of it.

Taking solace in her lack of height phobia, she stared at the ground five feet below while the incident reran in her head once more. She was just about to exit the turbolift on her way to the quarters she shared with Spock, and the lift doors opened to reveal the translucent form of a...monster. She'd barely had time to register the sight before something reached out from behind the thing and swiped at her, yet she wasn't sure it knocked her out. She wasn't sure because it literally felt like seconds between the second the thing hit her to the second she realized she was no longer on the _Enterprise_.

Presently Phiora raised her eyes to a creature similar to the one that took her. It was big, but not nearly as big as the one that had taken up the entire corridor back on the starship. This one was opaque, too, which meant the other one had been a hologram of sorts.

She didn't linger on the nonsense of that.

The creature was bipedal, with long arms that bent the wrong way at the elbow. It was at least seven feet tall. Its eyes were completely ink-black, protected by the occasional blink of translucent lids. It had no lips—no room for them with two pairs of monstrous fangs protruding from the upper and lower jaw—but the slowly inflating and deflating membranous bags on each side of its head seemed to quiver when it snarled absently.

To Phiora's surprise it spoke through its mouth.

"You are. With child."

That was when she knew this...thing was it. This was the leader of the AK47. The shock of knowing Spock had to endure being on this very vessel with this very beast caused her to gasp sharply and fall to her knees. She took a moment, her hands shaking, and brushed her hair out of her face. "Y-yes," she whispered, wondering if she could even be heard through the glass. "I don't know what you want from me...."

The next creature that entered the room was basically a mirror-image of the one before her, yet larger and a quadruped. A long tail wound out around it and when it opened its mouth, no words came out. Only sound. Only hideous, terrifying sound.

The biped's membranous pouches inflated rapidly and flew outward on flaps like gills on a fish. "K'Os. You. Will. Be. Silent."

The monster known as K'Os—strangely, Phiora knew it wasn't the one that took her—looked at the smaller AK47 sharply, as if startled, and slowly clamped its wide-opening bottom jaw shut.

"I am called Br'Zrk," the biped said suddenly, and with a jolt Phiora realized that was the answer to the question she had in mind. "We do not. Want anything. From you. Nor does your presence. Have purpose. For us." Then Br'Zrk's face changed. It was subtle, but Phiora could tell it was a malicious smile. It was so frightening she almost clenched her eyes shut. "We simply. Like war."

And that was when she blacked out again.

* * *

**Kudos to those who guess what I based the AK47 off of in terms of appearance.**


End file.
